E! IllustrationAnglophilia is alive.
Of course, that shouldn't come as any surprise. People have been going crazy for English accents basically since the creation of England. (That was in, like, 1900 right?). And in the reverse, American people have been cursing our vowels for just as long.
Nowhere is this more relevant than in Hollywood. Everyone loves an actor with an accent—it's pretty much the one trait that contributed to Benedict Cumberbatch's meteoric rise. (Just kidding, we love everything about you B!). In the last few years there has been a very noticeable uptick in actors coming from across the pond (make that several ponds) to invade Tinsel Town. We're all about this trend, partly because the more the merrier and whatnot, but also because accents are just plain awesome.
Let's look at the 2016 Oscars. All disturbing and disappointing #OscarsSoWhite issues aside, there's another big trend we noticed in the nominees: Accents. Almost half of those actors and actresses up for a gold statue are rocking a little verbal flair, which means that chances are high for at least a few of our favorite foreigners to grace the stage with acceptance speeches.
In Ireland's corner, we have the venerable Michael Fassbender and Saoirse Ronan, who will be competing in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories, respectively (for Steve Jobs and Brooklyn).
Playing for team United Kingdom are Eddie Redmayne, Charlotte Rampling, Christian Bale, Kate Winslet, Tom Hardy and Mark Rylance. If you can't keep track (and who can when you're busy thinking about how they say "Guvnah"), they're nominated, in order for their roles in The Danish Girl, 45 Years, The Big Short, Steve Jobs, The Revenant and Bridge of Spies. Hubba, hubba.
And finally, bringing up the rear, we have Alicia Vikander batting for Sweden (and trying for an Oscar for The Danish Girl) and Cate Blanchett in Australia's corner (for Carol). Sure, they might be from entirely different islands from the first groups, but they've got some pretty grand accents of their own.
As to just why these actors seem to be kicking so much American a-- in awards shows? Well, that's a debate for a different story, but a lot of experts seem to believe it's because the accents actually help them out—especially when their roles require them to take on yet another dialect. (Think El Cumberbatch's great Boston R's in Black Mass). Go UK!